RomeoJuliet
by Queensbaby
Summary: Meeting what appeared to be a deranged woman, while on a simple walk, turns into a life or death situation for Seto Kaiba. The disease is impossible, but the remedy is even more so! Are Seto, Ishizu and the Gang ready to pucker up for their lives?
1. The Meeting

_**This is a new story but its actually one of my oldest; it's been in hibernation in my computer files for a while now, so depending on how people respond, I'll choose to put more chapters up and maybe even finish the story. I like this one. Lots of kissing, short chapters, its nice.**_

Kaiba walked down the dark street alone. He had many places that he liked to think, one of which was an alley not too far from a building that was just opened. He wasn't exactly sure what it was and to be honest, he really didn't care. Those days, he had too much to think about, especially with the whole past life crap and then the Noah shit. Also, Ishizu had been staying over at his place and as much as he hated to say it, she had gotten to him. He just needed somewhere to think.

It was bitter cold that night so Kaiba decided to turn back and do his thinking on the way home. He stopped to turn up his collar and tug his sleeves when he heard something. Kaiba turned his head in the direction the noise came from to see what looked like a homeless girl, slightly younger than him. She was a complete wreck. Her hair was wild, her skin was discolored in some areas, and it looked as though she had been running. She looked scared and it seemed like she was having trouble breathing.

"Please," the girl said in a soft voice, hardly audible over her own harsh breathing. "Please help me." Kaiba slowly backed away from the girl. She might have been pretty at one time but the purple and black around her lips and neck seemed like a good enough reason to keep his distance. Tears formed in the girl's eyes. "No, no, please don't leave me. They wanna kill me. I need your help." Still not wanting to get too close, he leaned in slightly.

"Are you okay?" Kaiba looked puzzled at the possibly deranged young woman.

"I'll be fine if you just do me this one favor, just one, please." Tears continued to fill her eyes and it was getting harder to understand what she was saying.

"Fine just leave me alone …" with that the girl lunged at Kaiba with all her strength and kissed him ferociously. Kaiba quickly pulled her away, tossing her on the cold hard ground. She seemed unable to get up, but threw a small bag by his feet before he walked away.

"Thank you. Please take these. You're going to need them soon." Kaiba poked at the bag with his foot, his curiosity getting the best of him, finding a few small bottles of a yellow liquid and many needles.

"What the hell is this?" The girl took a bottle and needle she had for herself and injected it into her wrist as she tried to explain. She was looking better already.

"You've been infected with a newly engineered parasitic disease, nicknamed Romeo + Juliet. You see it is transplanted into a person's mouth and will kill the host after a while. The only way to save yourself is to kiss someone, transferring it to someone else, and take that yellow stuff there." Kaiba didn't look at all amused.

"Whatever." He started to walk away when the girl surprised him again by bouncing up and shoving the bag in his face.

"Please, just take it. I don't want you to die because of me." Kaiba pushed her out of his way. He didn't have time to listen to the deranged homeless girls dumb stories.

"Weirdo."

By the time Kaiba got back home, it was 2:00 am. "Everyone should be asleep." He thought to himself, as he quickly slipped in so as not to wake anyone. He took off his shoes and edged up the stairs. As he passed by the guest room, he couldn't help but think again. For the past two weeks, there had been people he never would have thought residing in his mansion. Those people were Ishizu and Marik Ishtar and their servant Odion. It was all Mokuba's fault. They were going to rent out a hotel while Ishizu finished her work at the museum but Mokuba insisted on them staying with the two of them for some reason.

As he rounded the corner of the hallway, he saw a dim light coming from his room. Kaiba figured that Ishizu had probably waited for him. It wouldn't be surprising. He and her were secretly seeing each other. That was the main reason for his little walk that night. He opened the door and walked inside, greeted by the sight of Ishizu lying in bed next to Mokuba, both were fast asleep.

"Well, that's something new."

Kaiba hung his coat in the closet and went into the bathroom. After throwing his clothes into the laundry, with the exception of his dark blue (extremely comfortable) underwear, he brushed his teeth and was about to head for bed when he remembered the crazy woman who kissed him on the street. Kaiba turned the faucet back on and brushed again. Having thoroughly cleaned his mouth, he pulled out the mouthwash and gargled. Swishing the intense green liquid in his mouth, he could see the two in his bed in the mirror. They looked so loving and beautiful, like a mother and child. His wife and their child.

Kaiba spit out the mouthwash. "What the fuck was that?" Did he just think about Ishizu having his children? About them being married? Kaiba turned to look at them again. Oh hell no, this chick had to go!

He walked over to his bed stopping short of the sleeping intruders. Mokuba seemed so much younger and innocent curled up with her. His wild raven hair and small face being subconsciously stroked by the gentle elegant fingers belonging to Ishizu. And what more of she? A mystery wrapped in a fine female shape, with long, black, flowing, silken hair and tanned skin. Even as she slept, she seemed both motherly and as delicate as a porcelain doll with –Holy Shit! Was he just doing poetry? It was time to shatter the moment. Kaiba roughly nudged her awake. (If you consider practically slapping her around a type of nudge.) Ishizu lazily opened one eye to see who had waken her. Seeing whom it was she closed it again.

"Ishizu get out." Kaiba said in a low rough voice.

"No thank you Seto." She answered sleepily.

"That wasn't a suggestion." Kaiba leaned in closer so he wouldn't have to raise his voice.

"We're comfortable and warm here already."

"We'll you'd better get comfortable in your bed because I'm sleeping here."

"Seto, you can't sleep here with me. Marik would start wondering and you know how he gets." Fed up, Kaiba grabbed a pillow and blanket from his closet mumbling under his breath. Before he stormed out, Ishizu signaled him over to her. He leaned over Mokuba to look at her face to face. "Don't be mad, it's the right thing." Ishizu kissed him. He kissed her back, lightly cupping her face with his hand, loosing himself for a moment. Hey, he couldn't even sleep in his own bed, why the hell not.

Unnoticed by either of them, Mokuba was listening in on the whole thing. Kaiba's nudging had waken him up as well. He tried not to smile and blow his cover.

Kaiba left the room turning off the light and closing the door behind him. With the click of the door shutting Kaiba realized something. If she was at all concerned about what her insane brother would think about them sleeping in the same room, she would have just left. And he had known this too. What the fuck?! He just gave up his bed! HIS BED! "Crazy Ishtar bitch!" he screamed in his mind. "It is so damn lucky my little brother is in there." Something came to mind. "Is that why he was in there in the first place?" There was no doubt that his was the most comfortable bed in the mansion. "That sneaky…" Kaiba continued to grumble all the way downstairs. He was not happy.

_**Please Read and Review!**_


	2. The Disease

Kaiba had had a shitty night and an even shittier morning. He felt like his entire upper body had been run over by three Mac Trucks and then little kids with pointy sticks were slowly poking at the wounds. No way in hell was he going to go to school on that gloomy Friday morning. He felt worse with each passing hour and wondered if that homeless girl actually did have a disease. By eleven o'clock Marik and Odion came down the stairs. Wondering what he was doing asleep on the couch, they woke him.

"What are you doing on the couch?" Marik obnoxiously asked.

"Your sister wouldn't get out of my bed last night." Kaiba specifically stated his words to sound worse than it really was. Marik instantly became furious as he always did.

"And what is that supposed to mean? What did you do?" Marik was trying with all of his might not to strike Kaiba at that very moment.

"Wouldn't you like to know." Kaiba grinned because he knew that Marik was about to explode and he enjoyed watching it. He wasn't afraid at all because he knew Odion would restrain him. Like every other time, Marik was reliable in providing the entertainment. He started by lunging at him and cursing him out in English. Once he was restrained, he continued to try to lung at him and curse him out in a different tongue. Odion tried to drag the screaming, cursing, Egyptian teen towards the door. "Could you take that somewhere else? I hardly slept at all last night." When Kaiba said this Marik was going for him so greatly that Odion had to lift him off the ground. Marik flung his legs around crazily trying to escape Odion's grasp or at least kick Kaiba.

"He's toying with your mind master Marik. Come, you can ride your motorcycle to release the steam."

"Ishizu, when I come back, we will be talking." Marik continued to scream. The door slammed closed behind them and once again there was silence. A few minutes passed and Kaiba tried to sleep but he was in too much pain. The doorbell rang and Kaiba heard little footsteps running down the stairs. Mokuba jumped down the last three but skid to a halt when he saw his big brother on the couch.

"Seto, what are you doing here?"

"I'm sick. Why aren't you at school?"

"I'm taking care of Ishizu. There's something wrong with her." The doorbell rang again and Mokuba answered it. Without any warning a pretty young woman with a long ponytail barged into the house. She ran through the foyer and into the living room where Kaiba was. The woman recognized him immediately and rushed over to him.

"I'm really sorry about this Mr. Kaiba. How do you feel?" Kaiba was confused.

"Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the woman who kissed you last night remember?"

"How did you know where I lived?"

"I followed you when you wouldn't listen. You didn't come out this morning so I came in." She threw the blanket off of him and examined his body closely. She was looking for something but she didn't see it. "No bruising? Mr. Kaiba did you kiss anyone last night or this morning?"

"That's none of your damned business." Mokuba ran into the room wide eyed in surprise.

"Who are you?" Mokuba asked the stranger who had barged into his house and was now examining his half naked brother's body.

"Sorry. I'm Danielle Juris, former assistant biotech engineer for NSS biotechnology. Did your brother happen to plant a wet one on anyone since last night?"

"Yeah. She's upstairs."

"Mokuba!" Kaiba was mad and confused and cold. Danielle took out a new needle, filled it with a yellow liquid, swabbed him and stuck him with it, injecting the liquid into him. "What the-" but before he could finish she had grabbed both him and Mokuba and was flinging them up the stairs.

"Where is she?" She looked at Mokuba. He pointed in the direction of Kaiba's room. "Stay here." She continued to pull Kaiba behind her and didn't stop until they were inside.

Ishizu looked horrible. Her mouth and throat were heavily bruised and his sheets were drenched in sweat. Kaiba's eyes widened in fear. He knew that look. Ishizu looked just like the woman from last night. But now she looked much better, so what was wrong with Ishizu? Danielle shut the door behind her.

"I didn't want to scare the boy." She explained. "Hello ma'am, I'm here to help you." Danielle became very nervous having to explain their predicament. Ishizu would of asked who she was but decided not to waste her energy. She was willing to listen to anything the stranger said as long as she could stop the pain. "Now ma'am, I should inform you that the reason you're in so much pain is because I infected your boyfriend here with a disease and he's passed it onto you."

"She's not my girlfriend." Kaiba sneered.

"Whatever. Look, the important thing is that because of me, the woman only has a few hours to live." Kaiba was shocked. A small cry escaped Ishizu's mouth.

"Explain." Kaiba demanded. He was in no longer in pain but still half naked, cold and in no mood for games.

"Well I tried to explain last night. I'm an assistant bio technician for NSS. Or at least I was. A select few of us were assigned to test a newly engineered parasitic disease. It was nicknamed Romeo + Juliet because the bug was transferred from person to person through saliva. It's like a germ but there is one "queen" that travels into an area with healthier tissue and settles there, multiplying.

"Those germs then travel through the digestive system, infecting and feeding off of healthy cells. Once in the stomach, they're passed through as nutrients attacking blood cells, which travel through the entire circulatory system until the heart in overwhelmed and destroyed. That is if your brain doesn't give out first. Unfortunately for me, I was their guinea pig. I ran away to save my own life but they came after me. That's when I saw you and decided to go for it." Kaiba was dumbfounded. If this was true that meant that this woman had tried to kill him.

"Well thanks for all your wonderful help, we really appreciate that." Kaiba's words dripped with an equal dosage of sarcasm and venom.

"Wait." She took out the bottle of yellow liquid. "This isn't a cure but it can help under the right circumstances. Once injected into the blood, this can make all the germs in the body dormant, with the exception of the source. If she transferred it to another person and took it, she'd be all right. At least if she weren't introduced to it again, because then it would resume at the course it is now."

"How much longer do I have?" Ishizu asked.

"About seven hours. It's fatal after being in the body sixteen hours."

"So how come I'm not as bad as her?" Kaiba was getting really pissed.

"Well without the source, the germs move much slower, so you still have a good twelve on you."

"Oh great. That makes me feel all cheerful inside."

"Don't worry, I gave you the vaccine so you'll be fine. Only she'll die."

"Wonderful!" Ishizu clapped.

"Hold on, I have a plan. If she gives it back to you, you can pass it on to somebody completely new, preferably someone with a group of friends. If they keep passing it along for a while, that should give me enough time to find an permanent cure."

"Couldn't I just kiss someone and walk away?" Kaiba asked.

"I guess but that wouldn't be very nice."

"I know just the person."


	3. The Kiss of Both Life and Death

Bbbrrruuumm! It was 2 o'clock and school was over. Tea, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Bakura, and Duke grabbed their book bags and were ready to go home. All the students were practically killing each other to get to the buses or at least out of the building. School was always like that on an extended weekend. The floods of students soon thinned until there were only a few stragglers left. The group of six took their time walking down the empty hallways.

"Yo, hurry up man! We're hardly movin' and your way back there." Tristan called out to Joey.

"I'll walk as fast as I wanna." Joey called back.

"Yeah right, you're just too slow."

"I am not!"

"Are too!"

"I bet I can get out the front door and all the way around back faster than you can get there from here!"

"Are you kiddin' man." Tristan looked at the distance. They were in the middle of the main entrance. The front doors on one side the back door at the other. "You're on." On GO, Joey ran towards the main entrance and Tristan ran towards the back.

Outside, Kaiba leaned against the wall in front of the school building. He was waiting for Tea. Ishizu had already transferred the bug back to him and taken the vaccine. Now she and Mokuba were waiting for him in his limo, parked right in front of the school. Danielle Juris was already taking advantage of the resources at Kaiba Corp. to find a permanent cure. Being re-introduced to the source for three hours since had made Kaiba feel and look almost as bad as Ishizu had.

He was getting nervous, Tea hadn't come out at the bell, and he had a time limit. He didn't know how much energy he had left to even lean against the building. Just then Joey Wheeler came running out.

"Wheeler." Joey looked like he was in a rush but immediately stopped to look around. "Over here." Joey turned in his direction and stopped surprised.

"Kaiba? Man you don't look too good."

"I don't have time. Are you alone?" Joey didn't fully understand the question. He thought Kaiba was asking if he was alone on that side of the building at that very time.

"Yeah. You sure you all right?"

Kaiba was getting worried. He didn't know where Tea lived and even if he did, by the time he got there he wouldn't have enough energy to speak. What was he going to do?

"Hey man, is there anything I can do or what?"

There was only one way to save himself but he couldn't do it. He wouldn't do it. He refused. But there seemed to only be one possibility. He would save his life but at what cost? Humiliation for the rest of his life. Self-loathing and utter despair.

"All right man. See ya later." His only chance was slipping through his fingers. It was now or never. Do or die, literally. Kaiba had to summon all of his pride.

"Wheeler." He couldn't believe he was actually intending to go through with this. "Maybe there is something you could help me with."

Joey turned back around and walked back to Kaiba. If Kaiba were the type of person to cry he would be close to doing it right then. He looked around to see if anyone was there. The only thing he saw was his limousine with Ishizu and Mokuba inside. Were they watching him then? The windows were up and he couldn't see. He knew that they were. Could they ever forgive him for what they were about to see? Maybe. He took one final look around, to look at the world, as he knew it one last time. Kaiba took in a deep breath. His last breath. He turned his face away from Joey, closed his eyes, and summoned up the last of his strength, courage and pride.

He reached out and grabbed Joey's collar and attacked the startled boy's mouth with his tongue.

Joey was dumbfounded. He blinked once, twice, and finally realized what was going on. Joey immediately tried pulling away but Kaiba had a very strong grip on his collar. He tried to yell but Kaiba's mouth just muffled the sound. The vibration of Joey's voice made Kaiba feel sick to his stomach. Joey desperately tried to escape the lip lock but to no use. The more Joey struggled the more ferocious Kaiba became. Kaiba refused to open his eyes when he heard a group of gasps. As if an off switch were turned, Kaiba's eyes popped open; he released the grip on Joey's collar and stopped thrashing his tongue around his mouth. Joey hurtled backwards from trying to escape. Like a nightmare come true, all of Joey's little friends were right there to witness Kaiba's most humiliating moment. He was embarrassed beyond belief, pissed past all reason, and felt incredibly awkward. Tea stood with wide eyes.

"SHE'S HERE?" Kaiba was thinking every fowl word he had ever heard and even said a few out loud. There was an awkward silence.

"I'm sorry. Did we interrupt something?" Yugi looked absolutely shocked.

"You said you were alone Wheeler." Kaiba growled at Joey. Joey seemed to have not heard.

"I've been kissed by Kaiba!" Joey shouted. He spit until his mouth was dry.

"Shut your trap mutt!" Kaiba yelled leaning against the wall.

"Your pet names won't work this time. I know your deal now. I always knew there was something not quite right about you Kaiba."

"Now come on Joey, that's not right. There's nothing wrong with him. It's perfectly okay to be …to be…" Tea tried to come to Kaiba's defense.

"I'm not a homo!"

"Sure you're not. That's why you tried to invite me to some tonsil hockey. Sorry but I don't swing that way." Joey was still trying to spit. Kaiba had had enough. This was ridiculous.

"Look, idiot, I have to tell you something."

"I know what you're gonna say and I must decline. I understand that I'm a handsome guy and everything but …" whatever Joey said after that, Kaiba drowned out. He took out a needle and the vaccine. He prepared it, swabbed himself, and injected it into his wrist. Everyone was talking about the kiss thing but stopped when he did this.

"Oh man." Duke said in more disbelief.

"You do that too?" Tristan asked. Kaiba knew what it must have looked like but he no longer cared. All he had to do was warn them about the disease and get out of there. Or did he? He thought about how much he really wanted Joey to know about it.

"Kaiba is there something you need to share with us?" Yugi asked. Kaiba looked at Joey, weighing his options.

"It's not important." Kaiba could feel a little stronger and headed towards his limo.

_**I've always liked this chapter! There's more to the story, but this is all I'll put up for now. If I get at least five reviews, I'll put up more chapters, so please Read and Review.**_


	4. The Aftermath

_**Wow! That was a fast! I wasn't expecting those five reviews to come so quickly. Well, these chapters are pretty short so enjoy, I'll put up these two.**_

The door to Kaiba's limo flung open and Ishizu and Mokuba ran out. Kaiba was able to limp half way to the limo when his legs gave way. A few minutes earlier he wouldn't have even been able to stand leaning against the building. He was getting his strength back, but it was coming slowly. Luckily for him Ishizu had already ran up to him and was able to catch him in his moment of weakness. The "romance" of the moment died in a millisecond.

"Seto, what are you doing?" Ishizu yelled at him. Mokuba caught up wide-eyed and confused. He still didn't know about the disease, and just witnessed his big brother kissing Joey Wheeler.

"Seto? What's going on?" Mokuba looked at his big brother in distress.

"It's hard to explain Mokuba. But I'll try to once we get home. Could you get me something out of the wet bar in the limo?"

"But you've never drunk before."

"I never had a reason to before. Now go!" Mokuba took off back towards the limo.

"Excuse me Seto, but you still haven't explained everything to a certain someone." Ishizu continued to yell. Kaiba would rather Joey never learn about the disease. To him, it would just mean one less idiot taking up space. Yuugi, Tea, Joey, Tristan, Bakura, and Duke watched the two arguing.

"Hey Joey, I think Kaiba's expression of love for you has gotten him in trouble." Duke joked.

"Shut up Duke!" Joey muttered.

"Why should Ishizu care anyway," Bakura added. "It's not like they're..." Everyone suddenly became quiet. A thought past through their minds. They listened carefully to what Kaiba and Ishizu were arguing about.

"If it's so damn important, you can tell them." Kaiba was embarrassed and pissed. He didn't want to have to look at Joey Wheeler ever again. His strength continued to increase but he had wasted most of it arguing. Now he wanted to get to the limo, but once again only got so far before loosing his balance. That time, Mokuba caught him.

"Big brother, will this work?" Mokuba held a large brandy bottle. Kaiba didn't even look at the seal. He uncorked the brandy and took a swig like a real wino. With luck, drinking so much wine on his first try, he would drink himself into a coma and forget the whole incident. Ishizu looked at Kaiba, shaking her head. She moved her gaze towards the group of teens in front of her. All jaws had dropped to the ground as they watched Kaiba gulp down the brandy like it was water. Ishizu walked up to them.

"I'm sorry about all of that. We have a really big problem and we're going to need your cooperation." Ishizu began to explain everything to them. Everything they knew about Romeo + Juliet, Danielle Juris, the vaccine and trying to find a cure. Kaiba and Mokuba stood out of hearing range.

"What is she talking about over there, Seto?" Mokuba was still very upset and confused about what he saw from the limo.

"You'll find out real soon, Mokuba."

"Man, this is getting really heavy. Could I see your bottle?"

"You're not old enough to drink Mokuba."

"Neither are you!" Kaiba contemplated for a while. He could have come up with a defense but he was starting to feel the effects of too much alcohol and his common sense was becoming slightly askew.

"One sip Mokuba!" Mokuba slowly took a small sip. He choked it down and handed it back to Kaiba.

"Man, that stuff's horrible!" Kaiba shrugged in response.

"Seto, you did not just give that little boy wine." Ishizu yelled from where she was with the group.

"Kaiba, you were gonna let me die?" Joey looked angrier than he had ever seen him. Almost slightly drunk, Kaiba laughed.

"I knew Ishizu would tell you anyway. Don't start foaming at the mouth, mongrel." Kaiba, having enough energy to walk, went back to the limousine to wait for Ishizu.


	5. The Taunting

After parting ways with Ishizu, the gang walked home. Joey muttered curses under his breath. The more he thought about what had happened, the angrier he felt. Would Kaiba really be so twisted as to not tell him about this fatal disease? If Ishizu weren't there, would he have ever found out? Joey knew Kaiba was a jerk but he didn't believe that Kaiba would refuse to tell him about it.

"He probably knew Ishizu would tell me." He thought. Just then, Joey felt a dull pain in his lower jaw. He moved it from side to side, which only raised the pain.

"What's wrong lover boy?" Duke slyly asked.

"Yeah. Kaiba too rough a kisser?" Tristan added. Everybody broke out in to maniacal laughter.

"Will you guys forget it already? You know what that was about so quit it." Joey said isolating from the rest of the group.

"Sorry Joey." Yuugi unsuccessfully tried to suppress his laughter.

"Yeah we're sorry for bringing it up again." Tea apologized. A second later she was laughing again. "But you have to admit, its not everyday Kaiba kisses you."

"You call that a kiss? He was practically raping the poor guy." Bakura chimed in.

"Ahhh man!" Joey dropped down into a tight little ball. He really didn't need this. The entire day was dark and gloomy, he got in trouble with the substitute teacher during History class, he was molested by Kaiba, given a fatal disease, his friends were making fun of him, and the pain in his jaw was only getting worse. "That's it!" he said into his chest. "I'm gonna achieve most of my life's goals by gettin' laid, and then I'll crawl into a ditch and die."

"I'll call Kaiba for ya." Tristan joked. Joey couldn't even yell back at him because he was so embarrassed. He simply let out a pitiful whine.

"Oh don't be that way Joey. You know it's all just in fun." Bakura tried to comfort the slump that was once Joey. "And think about it this way. You're not alone in the humiliation." Joey looked up at him. "Think about Kaiba having to explain what just happened to Mokuba."

"He won't have to. He's so embarrassed, it's driven him to drink already." Tea commented.

"Now there's a way out." Duke thought aloud.

"No it's not!" Tea said annoyed. But Duke, Joey, and Tristan paid no attention to her.

"You know anyone over 21?" Duke asked Tristan. He thought for a moment.

"Mai!" Tristan smiled triumphantly. "Hey Joey, what was that you said about gettin' laid?"

"Will you guys stop already? You're being ridiculous." Tea said increasing her tone of voice. Still, they didn't pay her any attention.

"Well I am dying." Joey peeked his head out to join the fun. He just couldn't resist teasing her as well. "And I'm in pain, both emotional and physical." He moved his jaw from side to side again. He wondered if it was the disease working on his jaw.

"Come, we shall retrieve Mai, and you shall drink and be merry for a good … fifteen minutes." Tristan held out a hand for Joey. That wasn't really his plan but making Tea mad was a favorite pass time of his and Joey's.

"I give him five minutes tops." Duke joined in. Joey could see what they were doing and he appreciated them for it. He was still incredibly embarrassed and forgetting what happened that day wouldn't be easy but he just may call Mai and Serenity. If the disease was really as bad as Ishizu had made it seem, he would be in a lot more pain than he was then, and he would need all the support he could get a hold of. But, at the present moment, Joey was more concerned about trying to forget the feeling of Kaiba's mouth against his. Joey shivered.

"Are you guys out of your minds?" Tea couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Calm down Tea." Yuugi sighed. They were just coming up to the Game Shop. "You gonna be alright Joey?" Joey just shrugged in response. "Don't worry about that dumb old kiss okay. No one who wasn't there has to know about it." Hearing this lightened Joey's spirits a little but it was still more of an inner trauma thing. Yuugi said goodbye and walked inside. From outside the shop everyone could hear uncontrollable laughter inside. "Grandpa, you won't believe what happened today…"

Joey once again dropped into a tight little slump on the ground as the rest of his once kind friends keeled over in laughter again. And it wouldn't be the last time.

_**So thats what I'll put up for now. I want to finish up the last chapters of Second Time Around, but if I get another 5 reviews I'll put up the next two chapters of this story, so please Read and Review! Thanks!**_


	6. The Drunkard

_**Wow you guys are awesome. When I first put this story up, I didn't expect people to review so quickly! Since this is a few years old, my writing style wasn't the best. Its been a constant back and forth for me between finishing Second Time Around and putting up chapters for this. The responses are coming so quickly I've started working on this story again. **_

"Seto where did you find that? Put it away, you're going to kill yourself." Ishizu entered the Kaiba mansion to see Kaiba with yet another whiskey bottle. He had been finished with the brandy bottle a long time ago and was working on his third alcoholic beverage within the past three hours. He sat, curled in a small corner and had been avoiding all human contact. Ishizu walked over to him, snatching the whiskey from out of his hand.

"Come on now. Stop acting childish. We have more important things to worry about than you being humiliated. Get over it. At least you're not dead." Ishizu pulled one of his arms to get him onto his feet. He wouldn't move and he was too heavy to lift without assistance. Kaiba could feel someone trying to pull him up but did nothing about it. Kaiba's head felt very light, and his stomach felt very warm.

"_**I wonder who's trying to move me?**_" his mind buzzed. He flopped his head up to see who it was. His eyes were glazed over and empty. Kaiba recognized the woman trying to get him up but couldn't quite put a name or place to it. She was merely a fuzzy silhouette. She was trying to say something to him, but the buzzing of his own head blocked out any form of communication.

Trying to pull him up by his arm wasn't working. Ishizu bent down and tried to grab him from under his arms. Kaiba suddenly felt arms being wrapped around him and a woman's chest near his face. "_**Well, this is getting interesting.**_" He still couldn't recognize the woman holding him. He brought his head and one of his hands onto her chest. He patted it twice and thought he now knew who it was. "Ishizu?" She slapped him hard on the left side of his face. She felt there was good reason behind it. Half was to try to get him out of his drunken stupor long enough for him to walk into his room. The other half was because he was acting like an asshole.

"Seto, get up already!" she yelled at him.

"_**Yep, that's definitely her.**_" She was still trying to pick the drunken boy up from off the floor, but he was too heavy, and let out a 'humph'. Kaiba smiled. "Ishizu. You animal. I'm surprised. Right in the middle of the floor? During the day? Ishizu, behave yourself." Ishizu wanted to smack him again, but realized it wouldn't do much. He didn't appear to have felt the last one much anyway.

"Come on. I'm taking you into your room." Kaiba finally stood up, as well as he could in his condition, leaning heavily on Ishizu. They were slowly making their way to the staircase when Kaiba caught sight of Mokuba. His eyes widened in fear as he let out a gasp.

"How can this be? Ishizu. Look over there." He points at his little brother. Ishizu reluctantly looks over. "It's Lady Edina. But how? She was just a character in my virtual game. She's not real." Ishizu sighed.

"Seto … That's Mokuba." Ishizu continued to pull Kaiba up the stairs. Kaiba looked hard at Mokuba until he could finally see that it really was him.

"Wow, so this is what its like to be drunk?" Kaiba eased himself up the stairs with Ishizu's help. There was a constant buzz in his head and the stairs would move from time to time. Mostly when he tried to step on it. The image of Ishizu was still pretty fuzzy. The only things that were easily seen were her hair and her figure. "I've had better times. But I've had worse times too." Kaiba really wasn't acting like himself. He continued to babble on and on, with no point at all.

After what seemed like an eternity in the shadow realm, Ishizu was happy to see the door to Kaiba's room. Just in time too. She was about ready to kick him. Until just then, she had never been groped. Ishizu opened the door to his room and made her way to the bed.

"Ishizu. Has anyone ever told you that you have beautiful eyes?" Ishizu was taken aback. That was the first nice thing he had said to her in the past two weeks. "You'd look so good if you just got rid of that dress. Maybe something with cleavage and lots of leg. I know you have it Ishizu." Ishizu pushed him roughly on the bed. "Why Ishizu, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were trying to take advantage of me."

"Just lie on your stomach so you don't choke on your vomit while you're asleep." Ishizu walked around the room, closing drapes and turning off lights so he would fall asleep. "I'll be at Kaiba Corp. with Danielle should anything come up. Mokuba will be downstairs." She turned to see if Kaiba understood only to see that he had already passed out. His mission was complete. He had successfully drunken himself into a coma and probably wouldn't remember what happened that afternoon. Ishizu locked the door behind her.

_**Read and Review**_


	7. The First Volunteer

With the passing of each hour, the pain in Joey's jaw spread to the rest of his mouth, then his throat, and now his chest was in pain, and it only increased as it spread. Joey was happy to have one of his friends stay with him through the pain. Tristan was always good company for Joey. They had been friends for a long time.

Tristan was becoming worried, as his friend grew weaker. Joey wasn't acting like himself. Instead of putting on a 'tough guy act', he was moving slowly, talking softly, and even openly admitted to being in pain and being afraid. One more hour passed and the pain was in his stomach. Many times, Joey ran to the bathroom to throw up until his body ached from movement. Joey felt as though he were dying, which he was. Exhausted from the pain, Joey fell asleep.

Tristan stayed by his side the whole time. He looked at his watch. It was 8:00, which meant Joey had been infected for six hours. Tristan wanted to do something to help him deal with the pain that didn't involve any kissing. Tristan got up for the first time in hours after Joey became bedridden to make a few phone calls. First, he called the gang to tell them how Joey was doing. Then, he called Kaiba's place and asked Ishizu how far along they were coming to a cure. Trying not to sound discouraged by the answer over the phone, Tristan hung up and called Serenity. He didn't want to frighten her so he just said that Joey was sick and would appreciate company. The last person he called was Mai. Tristan told her that Joey was in a lot of pain and that he would explain the rest later. When Tristan came back to Joey's room, Joey was awake, propped up against the headboard.

"Hey bro! How are ya holdin' up?"

"I've definitely had better days." Joey smiled despite the pain in his mouth. "Who were ya talkin' to?"

"Everybody. Yuugi, Tea, Bakura, Duke, Serenity, Mai, Ishizu…" Tristan named everyone he called.

"Was Serenity alright?"

"I haven't told her everything yet. I don't want her to panic for no reason."

"And Mai?"

"I'll explain it to her when she gets here."

"Gets here?"

"Yeah she's gonna pick up Serenity and drop by for a visit."

"Oh come on Tristan, I can't let her see me like this."

"Does that mean that this would be a bad time to mention that the gang's coming here too?"

"What?" Joey started combing his hair with his fingers wiping any vomit traces from his mouth and tears from his eyes.

"Don't worry about it bro, you don't look bad." Joey looked at his friend skeptically. Fifteen minutes went by agonizingly painfully for Joey. Finally there was a knock at the door. Tristan left Joey to answer it. When Tristan came back, Serenity walked by his side into the room and stood by her brother's side.

"Are you alright big brother?" She asked.

"Nothin' I can't handle for a while, sis." Joey assured her. Mai poked her head inside the room but did not come in. "Hey Mai!"

"Hey back at ya, kiddo." Mai answered with a wink. Tristan approached Mai. He didn't have to say anything; Mai followed him out of the room. She could tell that it obviously was something he didn't want to talk about in front of Serenity. A few more minutes of explaining and reassuring later, the gang walked in. Joey tried to put on an act for them but it wasn't working very well. Despite everyone trying their hardest to keep Joey comfortable, within an hour his condition worsened. Small bruises started to develop around his mouth and on his neck and the pain was now spreading all over his body.

"Joey? Big brother, what's wrong?" Serenity was becoming very scared for her brother.

"Don't sweat it Serenity. I'll be fine." Joey assured her, not knowing how long he could actually keep it up. No sooner had he said that, Joey passed out a second time.

"Joey? Joey!" Serenity became frantic. "Will someone please tell me what's wrong with him?" Mai, Tristan and Duke ran up to Serenity to calm her down. Tea, Yuugi, and Bakura looked over at the unconscious youth on the bed.

"It's okay. Everything is all right." Mai tried to calm Serenity. "You guys, I think we should just tell her."

"Tell me what?" Serenity's voice softened in fear of what they were going to say. There was a short silence before Yuugi approached her. Slowly, he explained the situation that they were in and what was happening to Joey. He then reassured her that Joey's health would return once he transferred it to someone else.

"Oh Joey, you're so brave. Saving Kaiba's life by taking the disease from him." Everyone looked at the naïve young girl, trying hard not to laugh at the thought of Joey bravely and willingly saving Kaiba's life.

"Look Serenity, it's been a hard night for you. You're exhausted. You should get some rest." Duke informed her.

"But I live too far away and I'd rather be close by."

"No problem. You can hang out with me. I don't live too far from here." Duke volunteered.

"I would but I think I'm going to stay here…somewhere."

"Alright. I'll set up the couch so it's nice and comfy." Duke escorted Serenity out of the room. Tristan stared at them throughout their entire conversation. He painfully wanted to follow them to the couch to keep an eye on Duke but, even more painfully, decided to stay by his friend.

Another four hours passed and Duke and Serenity had long past fallen asleep on the couch. Meanwhile, everyone else could only watch helplessly as the now subconscious Joey began to toss and sweat profusely. Glossy eyed, Yuugi looked at the electric clock on the nightstand next to Joey's bed. It was 2:28 am. He was getting worried. Joey had bravely held on to that virus for a little over twelve and a half hours and he looked like death.

There were purple, black, blue and green marks and bruises all over his body. His eyes were watering from the pain and he was breathing harshly as though it were hard for him. Earlier he became feverish and was suffering from more stomach problems, so Bakura took off Joey's shirt and put a cold rag on his head. It worked for a short time but the sweating and tossing returned.

Now, Mai had finally got him to rest easier. There, Mai lay on her side, next to him wiping sweat from his brow or rubbing his stomach. Yuugi couldn't tell if it was Mai who was calming him or if Joey was just too exhausted to feel the pain.

"Guys." Yuugi called to his drifting comrades. "I think we need to decide whose gonna take it from him." With that Yuugi, Bakura, Tea, and Tristan all inconspicuously focused their attention towards Mai.

"Don't worry, you knew I would anyway." Mai assured them. Suddenly, there was a tight grip on Mai's hand.

"No!" Joey commanded in a meek voice. "I wont let ya." Joey gripped Mai's hand harder.

"What are you talking about Wheeler?"

"You don't understand Mai. What I'm goin through…. well?…to say the least, its not pleasant. And I don't want you anywhere near."

"I'm a big girl Joey. I don't need you to protect me. Your life is on the line and I'm gonna kiss you whether you want me to or not." Mai pulled herself closer to him.

"I said no!" Joey tried to fight her off.

"Its for your own good!"

"No means no!"

"Stop acting like an idiot."

"I don't want you to get hurt!"

"You're gonna be dead in a few hours!" Everyone else watched the two argue on. Finally fed up, Tea marched over to them and pushed Mai out of the way.

"It's not that difficult. Here." With that she kissed Joey long and hard.

Two thoughts passed through Joey's mind in that moment. The first being, what the fuck? The second was that this would probably be the last time he could kiss another girl without cheating on Mai in their new 'not exactly a relationship'. That thought in mind, Joey did what most guys would. He kissed her back. The kiss lasted a nervously long time. Everyone else in the room became very silent.

Under his breath, Tristan chanted, "Mai's lookin' right at ya man." Never taking his eyes off his friend. Bakura awkwardly dug his sneakers into the floor and looked at his watch. Poor Yuugi simply watched heartbroken, his mouth ajar. Mai naturally seemed pissed. With folded arms she tapped her foot as a way of counting the seconds while she watched. It was a good twenty seconds before Tea forcefully pulled her head away, catching her breath.

"There, it's done. Now your man is cured," she said looking at Mai "and your girlfriend doesn't have to get sick." She said looking at Joey.

"Uh… thanks….. I guess." Joey rubbed his head trying not to look amused by Mai's annoyed expression. Mai walked over to Joey's nightstand and pulled out a vaccine, needles and swabs. Walking over to the other side of the bed, Mai prepared the injection. Joey's hidden amusion soon turned to fear. Mai looked extremely angry and he didn't know what she was planning to do. Much to everyone's surprise, Mai's face became very loving and happy. With tender fingers, she carefully swabbed a small area of his wrist and smiled. Mai held the needle as though she were holding a butcher's knife, which only made Joey more afraid. Without warning, Mai stabbed Joey's wrist with the needle in the proper vein, with frightening accuracy. Joey almost screamed in a mixture of surprise and pain but thought it best to muffle it.

"I hope this makes you feel better." Mai said with a smile, slowly injecting the vaccine. In an instant, Joey was slowly feeling the healing affects of the drug.

"Thank you Mai." Joey tried to get back on Mai's good side as soon as possible.

"Can you feel it working yet?" Mai seemed to say with genuine concern.

"Yeah, I'm feelin' better already."

"Good." Mai climbed onto the bed again and kissed the side of Joey's face. Lovingly, she ran a hand over his chest, down to his abs, below his navel, and slowed down just as she was approaching his pride and joy. Just when he began to feel a little more relaxed, Mai grabbed the gold and twisted…hard! The pain was more than any man could take. Joey cried and screamed and squirmed in agony but she didn't stop. A million high-pitched screams exploded from his mouth making everyone immediately attentive. Joey desperately tried to pull her hand away but he couldn't release her vice grip. When the noise finally began to die down and Joey was reduced to pitiful whines, Mai spoke.

"Now I never, ever want to see you kiss another girl in front of me. For no reason, do you understand? And you," she looked at Tea " if I ever see you pull another stunt like that with Joey I will rip off your lips and hang you by your vocal cords." Mai released her grip. Immediately, Joey curled into the fetal position, massaging his wounded friend back to life.

"Well I'm sorry to say this man but you had that one comin'." Tristan was back in the joking mood and felt like putting his friend through even more torture. "I mean you kissed another girl when Mai tried to help you and you kissed Kaiba." Grins began to appear across the room.

"Shut up Tristan." Joey said nervous again.

"You kissed Kaiba?" Mai looked at Joey in fake shock. Tristan had explained everything to her earlier but now was her time for even sweeter revenge. "You kissed Kaiba and Tea but you wouldn't kiss me!"

"No it's not like that!" Joey was beginning to panic.

"You should have seen him Mai. They were really going at it. I can't even explain."

"Well then…why don't you show me Tristan?" Mai winked. Tristan caught her drift.

"Okay. Well let's say I'm Kaiba and you're Joey. So you're running out'a the school and I'm just casually leaning against the wall looking sexy."

"WHAT?!" Joey yells from the bed. Tuning him out, Tristan continues.

"And Kaiba says, ' Hey Joey. Come over here and do something for me.'." Tristan licks his lips and sizes up Mai.

"THAT IS NOT HOW IT HAPPENED!!" Joey continued to scream.

"And then what happens?" Mai asked seductively.

"Then Joey comes up real close to him."

"Like this?" Mai flirtatiously walks up to Tristan.

"Yeah. And Kaiba tears at Joey's clothes while Joey feels up on his chest." Mai and Tristan began to mimic the actions getting disturbingly close. "And that's when they start kissing each other." With that they both pull each other into a huge kiss. Joey's face distorts into many disgusted expressions. Appalled, Joey climbs off the bed and limps over to them and breaks them apart.

"THAT IS A LIE!! AND KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF MY GIRL YOU SICKO!"

"Well, you kissed Tea. So I kissed Tristan and maybe I'll kiss Serenity to make us even." Everyone in the room except Joey and Tea made amused gestures. (What can I say? Guys!) "And all of a sudden I'm YOUR girl?" Mai said crossing her arms.

Joey looked around blushing and nervous. "Alright, I get it. I wont kiss anyone ever again for the rest of my life."

"Good boy. Now, I'll take Tea home so she can get home safe and make sure she's comfortable. You've had a rough night so I want you to get to bed, pronto. The rest of you should head home too."

"You're not our motha'." Joey muttered.

"Shut up!"

"Yes mommy." Joey had muttered out of embarrassment but immediately complied to what Mai said for fear of another dreaded 'Groin Grab'. Joey walked over to the bed, tucked himself in and closed his eyes. In a short period, everyone had left the Wheeler home and did exactly what Mai said. Everyone except for Serenity and Duke that is, who were still asleep on the couch. No one seemed to remember that they were there, which was fine by Duke.

_**Updates may come a little slower from now on since I have to continue writing the story now. I have a few chapters written already so, it won't be months like some of my other stories where the chapters are longer. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I really liked it! Expect suspense and more crazy kissing ahead. But of course, please remember to Read and Review. Thanks!**_


	8. The Real Victim

Tea awoke with a start shortly after 10:00 am. Normally an early riser, she had sent Mai away, promising that she'd be awake and able to call someone by the time she would have needed any help. This turned out not to be the case. Somehow, Tea had managed to sleep through the initial pain and her body's exhaustion prevented her from waking up until just then. At that moment, Tea felt the overwhelming urge to vomit.

She shot up to run to the bathroom and was immediately met with unimaginable pain. Her entire body ached. Tea couldn't imagine her body being in more pain if she were hit by a bus. No, being hit by a bus would have been a reprieve. As quickly as she got up, she fell back down on the bed. The feather topped mattress, she realized, was covered in sweat and did nothing to comfort her. Her body had become dead weight but still, the urgent need to vomit pushed her to move.

Tea rolled her body frantically until she fell off the bed, landing with a hard thud on her bedroom floor. The impact triggered a shockwave of pain through her body, but she pressed on. Her bedroom was directly across from the bathroom. Foreseeing a necessary trip, Tea had kept her door and the bathroom door open. From her position on the ground Tea could see the toilet. She just had to get there.

The usually short trip now seemed to stretch for miles. Desperately, she clamored across the floor, trying to push her pain aside, so that she could reach her destination. Tea felt a painful pressure midway up her throat and struggled to suppress it. Crawling and clamoring wasn't getting her there fast enough. Determined, she attempted once again to empty the pain from her mind and moved to the balls of her feet. Her body was so heavy, but still, she tried to push past it. She only needed to get to the bathroom. From her position, she would normally only need five steps to get there.

Tea pushed herself up onto her feet and immediately felt herself falling forward. She wouldn't be able to simply walk. She fumbled in to her first step, the weight of her own body being too much for her to handle. With the second step, Tea found herself careening forward. By the third step, she was out of her room and in the hallway. She felt the bile coming up, but she thought she could make it. Tears of frustration and pain streamed down her face as she fell into the fourth step. Tea realized that she was out of control; her body couldn't slow down. She stumbled just as she approached the toilet.

As she stumbled, Tea held her arms out so that she could catch the rim of the toilet bowl. Tea fell painfully on to the floor, but managed to catch on. Unfortunately, the weight of her body was too great, and rather than hold herself up, Tea slipped causing her head to crash down against the porcelain. The last things Tea remembered before passing out was the sight of her blood streaked against the toiled bowl and the feeling of bile, burning up her esophagus and exploding out her mouth. She felt it splash against her face and the blood seeping from the wound on her head.

"I'm gonna die…" She thought feeling her consciousness fade away. In that moment she saw an image of all her friends, but one stood out amongst the rest. With that, everything went dark.

Tea didn't know how long she'd been in the darkness before a familiar, calming voice entered her thoughts. Slowly, the darkness faded and she recognized that she was back in her bedroom. The pain, except for the area of her head that hit the toilet, was gone. Her sheets had been changed as well as her clothes. She felt as though she had been bathed.

Not wanting to repeat the mistake she made last time, Tea sat up slowly and looked around. To her surprise, she saw Yuugi sitting protectively by her bedside. Yuugi looked at her with a bright smile.

"Tea, thank goodness you're awake!" he said with a look of relief. "I was really scared. How do you feel?"

"Aside from a headache, I actually feel pretty good." Tea answered, putting a hand up to touch the pained area. She noticed a square bandage placed securely on the center of her head.

"You look a lot better now." Yuugi added. Suddenly he stood up and adjusted his clothes. "Well I'll leave you to get changed. After what happened with you everyone's decided to stay at my place until a cure has been found."

"Yuugi wait." Tea called before he could walk too far away. "Thank you! Thank you so much for saving me!" Her eyes were near tears. Before she lost consiousness, she saw all of her friends, but one friend in particular stood out amongst the rest. Yuugi had been the last person she saw when she thought she was going to die, and he'd been the first person she saw upon awakening. She could tell that the disease was gone, which meant he had taken it from her.

Tea tried to hide her blush when she thought about Yuugi coming into her house to find her, and kissing her, and bathing her, and putting her into the shirt and shorts she was wearing now. It was too embarrassing, but something in her was happy as well. When she looked over at Yuugi, she saw a furious blush in his cheeks. He looked down at the floor sheepishly.

"I just got this feeling like you were in danger. I don't know how to describe it. I was worried and I rushed over as fast as I could." He said, digging his feet into the floor. Yuugi turned and walked towards the door. He stopped in the doorway, and turned back to face Tea, the deep blush still fresh in his face. "But I didn't take the disease from you."

Yuugi suddenly took off down the hall before Tea could get out another word. Tea looked at the empty doorway, in confusion. What did Yuugi mean? If he didn't take the disease from her, if he hadn't kissed her, who had? The answer came when a tall figure appeared in the doorway. His face was gaunt, but he tried his best to put on a smile when he saw her.

"Well, you're awake. That's good. Yuugi was really worried, said he had a feeling you were in trouble, but ya know, I live closer to you than he does plus with my bike I could get to you faster."

"TRISTAN!?"

"Looks like Yuugi and me did a decent job getting you all cleaned up." Tristan looked to be forcing a smile. "Did Yuugi tell you? We're all gonna stay at his place from now on."

"… you're the one that kissed me?"

"I'll leave you to get dressed." With that, Tristan closed the door and walked away.

"NO WAY!!" He heard Tea cry out from her bedroom. Tristan shook his head in exasperation.

"Well excuse me for not being Yuugi!" He muttered under his breath. In the living room, he saw Yuugi slumped on the couch looking depressed and heartbroken. "Awe COME ON!" Tristan cried out. "Ya know, I'm a victim here too. I'm the one with the life threatening disease! Plus, her mouth was covered in vomit! VOMIT!! I should be the one upset here!"

Yuugi appeared not to hear him and continued to fiddle with his puzzle. Within six hours Tea had been kissed by two different guys and neither one was him. He didn't like feeling jealous, especially under the circumstances but, he couldn't help himself. After all, he was the one who sensed Tea was in danger and ran from his house. Why couldn't he get to kiss the girl?

These sad thoughts passed through his head, thoroughly cutting off any attention he would have paid to his friend's woes. Tristan seemed to notice this and eventually gave up. Tristan noticed the pain in his jaw and pulled out his cell phone to call Mai. After what he saw with Tea, he wasn't going to risk riding his motorcycle anywhere.

_**I feel a little bad that I enjoy torturing these kids sooo much! Sorry it took a while to update but I wanted to finish my story Second Time Around. (Which is a cool story if you haven't read it already - wink wink) Anyway Read and Review for more chapters.**_


	9. The Egyptian Woman's Reflection

"Oh no, that's horrible! Well is she alright? How fortunate! Yes, I think that would be a very good idea. I'll make sure I update you on any news. There is some progress since yesterday but she still needs time. Please take care of each other. Yes, goodbye." Ishizu hung up the phone. Tired she walked into the living room of the Kaiba mansion and sat down on the couch.

She'd just gotten word from Tristan about what had happened to Tea. Ishizu was getting worried. This entire situation was way too dangerous for a group of teenagers. What could Seto have possibly been thinking? She was relieved to hear that Yuugi and his friends would be staying in one place to look after each other, but even still, this was risky. Joey and Tea had already been exposed and now Tristan was infected. Their group of friends wasn't very large. In a few days there would not be anyone safe to take the virus and then what. They were short on time.

Ishizu let out a long sigh as though to release all her stress. She was worried about the safety of those kids, but that wasn't all. She was worried about Mokuba's curiosity of the situation. If possible she wanted to keep him out of the line of fire this time, rambunctious as he was. She cared very much for Mokuba's well being. He reminded her of Marik before all the pain came into their lives. Marik had a habit of running off to 'experience the world' at the drop of a dime, so Ishizu used Mokuba as a way of reliving her role as big sister.

To make everything even more complex, her relationship with Seto was becoming more and more obvious the longer she stayed at the Kaiba mansion. Neither of them had wanted to be figured out for a multitude of reasons, but Ishizu wasn't willing to leave him or the mansion yet. She really liked it. She really liked Mokuba and her feelings for the older Kaiba were steadily growing. At the moment, Kaiba was of no use at all, since he was passed out in an alcohol induced coma, and she'd had to assist Danielle at the Kaiba Corp. labs.

Danielle was obsessive. This was good since it meant that she wouldn't let anything get in the way of making progress. However, Ishizu found it difficult to be there with her for that exact same reason. If she hesitated for a millisecond to hand her anything, Danielle would snap. She would stay hunched over her solutions and microscope for hours without food, water, or rest and she seemed to want Ishizu to be the same. Eventually, Ishizu gave up and left Danielle to work on it on her own. She may go back every now and then to see how things were coming along, but really, microbiology was not her forte and she was done with pretending it was, especially with Danielle.

Ishizu closed her eyes and continued to take deep calming breaths. Her mind drifted back to her kiss with Seto yesterday. She'd been in a lot of pain and, granted, it was just a kiss to transfer the virus back to him, but even still she couldn't help but notice how shy he'd been about it. Danielle was in the room and preparing the syringe, pressuring him to hurry up and kiss her, but he shouted at her and said he wasn't going to do anything until she left. Neither she nor Seto were comfortable with public displays of affection, but the situation was not meant to be a romantic one, it was to save her life. She understood that, but even still, Ishizu could see his shyness come through. It was something only she had seen before.

Thinking about Seto's hidden embarrassment, the way his fingers circled the bruises stretched across her skin, the concerned look on his face, the gentleness of his kiss so as not to hurt her further – her skin prickled. Ishizu didn't understand how it was that Seto Kaiba could make her feel this way with just a thought. True, she was fond of the younger man. They seemed to understand each other without need for words. He had a cute little brother. He was good in bed – Ishizu felt the heat rise from under her skin. So maybe that was what it was.

She couldn't help it. He was obviously not a novice. Her thoughts lingered on the shape of his body. She could see clearly the expanse of lean muscle under his skin. Her fingers twitched remembering the way each part of his body felt underneath them. She shut her eyes tight in an attempt to erase the images in her mind but she was met by the all too familiar image of Seto hovering over her, the intensity of his gaze burning in to her. She was getting hot.

Ishizu's eyes popped open and she immediately started fanning herself off. It wasn't like her to be lustful. The disturbing question of whether or not what she was thinking and doing were legal in Japan. How old was still considered a minor in this country? Yet another reason to keep their relationship a secret.

Try as she might to shake them, Ishizu's thoughts remained inappropriate until she was disturbed by the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the stairs. Seto appeared before her looking like crap, effectively removing all the lustful thoughts from her mind.

"What the hell happened?" Seto asked in a strained voice. He was struggling to see through the hand barrier he created to block out painful light.

"You drank too much." Ishizu replied remembering her anger. She'd almost forgotten how much Seto had pissed her off yesterday because of the disease and Danielle, but she remembered his drunken foolishness and looked at his suffering without pity.

"Oh yeah, I started drinking because I wanted to forget something really disgusting and terrible that happened to me. It's a bit fuzzy so I won't try to remember." He said, taking a seat beside her on the couch. "So I'm guessing this is a hangover."

"How do you feel?" Ishizu hated that she was always so concerned about him.

"My head feels like it's been smashed with a bat over and over again and I threw up on the way to the bathroom."

"Well that's what you get for thinking you can drink your problems away."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Seto grumbled laying his head in her lap. Ishizu jumped a bit in confusion.

"Seto what are you…"

"Geez woman, can you not scream in my ear. My head is killing me. Just let me lay down. You should rub my head too."

"No."

"You know you kicked me out of my bed the other night."

"Yes, and you gave me a deadly virus, then drank yourself stupid, forcing me to carry you up the stairs and put you in bed. I owe you nothing, Seto Kaiba."

"I'm not up to fighting you right now." Seto sighed in a bored way. "I need something to help me with this."

"I already made a chaser for you, it's on the kitchen counter."

Seto looked up at her in surprise. "You did what?" He asked.

"I looked up effective chasers since I knew you'd be hung over this morning. I thought you'd be willing to try it, so I made it. It's in the kitchen, go get it." Seto sat up and smiled in disbelief. Before Ishizu realized it, Seto grabbed her from behind the neck and pulled her in to a kiss. When he finally released her, he was still grinning. "What was that for?"

"Reward. You've been a good girl." Seto sat up and walked towards the kitchen.

Reward? Good girl? What was she, his pet dog? She hadn't gone on a paper, she'd done something out of concern for him. That pompous brat. At least that's what she'd wanted to say to him. Ishizu could only look on in silence as he dragged his feet into the kitchen. Even still, watching him move in only his black pajama bottoms forced a smile to cross her lips. She could still feel the pressure on her lap where he'd put his head down. She wasn't used to him doing such affectionate gestures. He must have really been out of it.

From her seat, Ishizu could hear Seto gag on her homemade chaser. A few moments later, he emerged with the most disgusted look on his face. He gave Ishizu an incredulous look as he pointed to his mouth. Ishizu struggled to control her glee, but even still it showed itself in a devilish smirk.

"What's wrong? Too much tobasco?" Kaiba did not reply. He just stared at her with the same disbelieving expression. "You look more alert already. It must have worked!" Ishizu smiled with false innocence and then motioned for him to sit beside her. Kaiba frowned but walked over anyway.

"I've never liked you. Since the moment we met, I didn't like you. No matter how much sex we have, I will never like you."

"You don't like anyone Seto." Ishizu replied with disinterest. "Speaking of which," Ishizu turned to him with a much more serious expression, "Tea ended up in a very dangerous situation when she got infected with the virus. Because of that, the entire group has decided to stay together at the Pharaoh's home."

"So after I took the virus from you, I did manage to get to the school and give it to that girl?"

Ishizu paused. "Danielle is making steps in the right direction with her cure but she is nowhere near where we need her to be." She said, deciding to change the subject. Seto seemed to pick up on this and actively decided not to press the issue any further. "I think it would be in our best interests to decide on a new group that can take the disease after them. Maybe a larger group. This really is too much for us to handle by ourselves…"

"No." Seto cut her off abruptly.

"No? Why not? We wont make it in time with only that small group of teenagers!"

"We can't have anyone else knowing about this. Not even within my company." Seto was rubbing his temples as he spoke but stopped to look up at Ishizu after a moment of thought. "Especially within my company." When Ishizu looked at him in confusion he continued to explain. "This is a very delicate situation. I did some research on NSS, the company Danielle worked at; they're as big as Kaiba corp. I just never heard of them because they're new to Japan. They've already made a few friends over hear so I don't know who can be trusted."

"What do you mean?"

"These people could use their own technicians as guinea pigs for a dangerous new disease and terminate them without worrying about the authorities or government stepping in, don't you think that's odd. I mean, Danielle came to me, and not the police, didn't you notice that?"

Ishizu hadn't noticed this before, but now that she stopped to think about it, it was odd. Danielle, faced with life and death, didn't run to the police after she escaped her lab. Not even after she was healed. She hadn't sought out any help from government officials or anything like that. Did Danielle think that the police couldn't be trusted? Did she have a reason to believe that?

"I have a feeling that this is a military project?" Seto said, interrupting her thoughts and confirming her own growing fear. "Kaiba corp. was a weapons manufacturer for the military before it became a gaming company, so I know how companies like that operate. When the government is breathing down your neck looking for results, you do anything necessary to get them. Anyone that could compromise them will be 'handled' in the most appropriate way. They'll have to erase all the evidence. That includes Danielle, you, me, and all those idiots. The more people that we involve in this, the more liabilities we will create. We could risk a leak to NSS, or death to us all instead of just one person, if it comes to that. That's why we can't involve anyone else in this."

"But Seto, what if Danielle can't find a cure in time?"

"Well, someone will die I guess." Ishizu looked at him in shock that he could even say such a thing. "Don't look at me like that." Seto ran a hand over his face in frustration. "Well, regardless of how this turns out, I'm going to protect my home."

Even though it was not the time or place for her to think such things, Ishizu couldn't help but notice how handsome Seto looked at that moment. He could become so intense so quickly, Ishizu had to catch her breath. Just as her mind started to wander off to other things against her better judgment, he stood up and stretched his long limbs.

"Where are you going?" Ishizu asked, trying to hide her disappointment.

"I'm heading over to the lab. I might be of some help there." Seto started to walk up the stairs to get dressed but before he moved too far, he looked up at Ishizu's half glazed expression and grinned. "I know, it's been a while." Ishizu looked at him confused, forcing him to hold in a chuckle. "Just for your information, I'm of consenting age, so no, what you're thinking isn't illegal."

Seto turned and headed upstairs. He didn't need to see the furious blush that exploded across her face to know that he'd hit the nail on the head. He laughed to himself as he went up the stairs. Even in this situation, he had her thinking about his body. And he thought men were supposed to be the bad ones! Either way, it meant that he was learning how to read her. They were getting closer as a couple and the feeling was unfamiliar. Even as he chuckled at her embarrassment, he felt the flutter in his stomach.

Maybe, when the situation was over, they could figure out what this meant.

_**School has started once again (booo). I hope you guys are still enjoying. As always, please Review for more Chapters. I'll put up the next one after I get another 15 reviews (it's more than previous chapters cause I have school papers to write). Anyway, thanks for the the feedback so far, keep it coming.**_


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